Running

Last year Matt and I volunteered for the Ogden marathon. It was a blast and most of the people finishing the race seemed to have had a really good time. I decided it would be fun to participate the next year. The problem was I wasn’t sure I wanted to do a half marathon in May. I don’t do a lot of training in the winter (too darn cold outside). But they didn’t have a 10K, and the 5K just seemed too short.

Enter the Marathon Relay. What a great idea. I get to run a much shorter section of the race and still get a medal for my troubles. So I took it upon myself to arrange a team of runners to join me in the race. Of course, Matt was a given. I knew he would want to run with me. I also assumed my Dad and my sister Val would want to join. I wasn’t sure who would do the 5th leg, but figured I could find someone. Eventually my sister Chrystie stepped up and agreed to be our finisher.

So on May 21st we all joined forces to run a marathon. My Dad did the first and longest leg, followed by Val. My leg started at the park in Eden and went around Pineview and down the canyon to the Oaks. I had to spend a couple hours at the park, and it was a little cold and I was tired, but once the marathon runners started coming through we had a good time cheering them on.

 waiting for our turn to run...people sleeping on the tables

Something to watch while we waited

 

My leg went well. It was a little strange running with people who had already put in a half marathon, and it made me feel a little less cool when I was just keeping up with the people around me. But it was still a good time. The packet we received stated my leg was supposed to be 4.9 miles. Tragically that was incorrect. It was actually a lot closer to 5 ½ miles. I had my suspicions about that because Matt and I had driven the course the night before. There were other runners around me that were not ready for it and I heard some complaining on the bus ride home.

But I reached the restaurant and passed the baton to Matt and then loaded the bus to the finish line to find my family. I found everyone and waited for Matt who arrived not long after me. Then we set out to the finish to watch Chrystie run in. Somehow we missed her and she had to find a phone to call us and find us. Oops. Also sadly we didn’t’ take a single picture of the team. I know I had a good time, and I think the rest of the team did too.